PATENTS & LICENSES -- Covering Their Assets

ImageX's Begert points out that patents may not be as broad as they seem. "We don't feel there are a lot of people violating our automated prepress solution (patent) because it is a unique application we are bringing to the market," he notes.

In the case of workflow solutions from equipment vendors, for example, the company president says it would be harder to prove a system is in clear violation if there is a device-dependent component to it. "Our approach is all basically software driven," Begert adds.